Tuesday, May 22, 2012

I've had this yarn for years in my stash for exactly this project. Now that I knit with it, I am in love. Really. I want this yarn. I want all my hats, mittens and winter cardis to be knit with Shetland Spindrift. I want colourwork. This was such an addictive knit, I was done in no time.

This should have been blocked differently, though, as I will not wear it as a tam. I like the slouchy hat look better. This will be reblocked before cold times arrive.

All of the details are as always on Ravelry. The only thing that I really want to get off my chest is - I love this yarn. If you have any Shetland Spindrift that you're willing to part with, please let me know. I might have something in my stash that you'd love to have.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Veera. Oh, I mean stripes. ;-) Really, Veera is on a roll lately. And even if you do not like her patterns yourself, chances are high that quite a few of your Ravelry buddies are queuing up, faving and/or knitting her patterns.

There are quite a few patterns out there that seem to have been influenced by her love of garter stitch and stripes. And short rows. An obvious one is Ode to Veera. Pendulum looks like a different interpretation of stripe study. When I first saw Turbulence cowl, I thought this was another of Veera's designs. I could go on and on.

Stripe Study and Color Affection are turning to be real cash cows, just like Ishbel by Ysolda. Everybody seems to be knitting one. I resisted Ishbel fever, but after stripe study I'm in for Color Affection.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

So... Not a "WIP Wednesday" post for a change on a Wednesday. I have so many things on my needles right now with an urge to cast on for another 10 things that I would rather focus on things finished than those in progress.

And this was an easy, mindless knitting at a time when I needed some. What I love about this design is the slipped stitch edging. It just feels right. If you're looking for a quick present, a cowl is the way to go. You can find the free (!) pattern here (Rav link).

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

You've seen this FO already. I failed to blog about it up until now. I feel the need to write an expansive review, but let's face it - I don't really have the time for it. On top of it, I'm still fighting the jet lag. Waking up at funny hours does not help getting thoughts sorted on items finished quite a while ago.

I will thus do a quick review. The cardi fits perfectly. I adjusted the number of decreases for the waist as decreasing twice would not have worked for me. I truly have studied Amy Herzog's series on how to fit to flatter knits. The only no-go for an hourglass figure like me are the horizontal stripes in this pattern. However, since this is a cardi, it works. (Well that is what I tell myself.)

The overall length seems to also be fine. Oh, I did throw it into the tumble dryer for about 10 minutes after the blocking. And Wollmeise survived.

The only thing that I wish I would have done differently is cast on for a smaller size in the beginning and then either increased to a larger size for the bust or done the bust darts as Ysolda discussed in this post shortly ago. Most of the body types do not work with patterns written for all. I assume that each designer knits an items for herself (let's ignore male designers for now for simplicity sake) first and then grades them to different sizes. It works well only in theory, though. My bust size ranges towards the middle of the alphabet. I got fitted a few years back. High chances are you have not, thus I will not scare you with my size and will keep it to myself.

See the raglan lines on the back? They are far too wide apart. Most designers assume that there's a larger body corresponding to my bust size. I've actually realized this a long time ago, but still do not know what keeps me casting on for those large sizes. I guess I keep on hoping to find that one pattern that will need no mods whatsoever to knit it.

All of the details

Needles:

2.5mms for garter stitch knitted back and forth, 3.0mms for stockinette back and forth, 2.0mms for garter st in the round, 3.5mms for stockinette in the round

Monday, May 14, 2012

You've seen this skirt a few posts back. I feel the need to show it again as I will be sharing my version of it soon. I just need some pictures of it. Who knows, maybe the one year old will give me a chance to get some non-blurry shots of it. If not, you'll still get some pictures but will have to rely on my word that it fits perfectly.

Now to Oma's version.

Normally, horizontal stripes + a knitted skirt = a no-no for anyone. Surprisingly, this skirt works without making my bottom look out of this world big.

I love the striping. There seems to be a system behind it, but I have yet to find what it is. The pattern is very easy, it is knit top-down, which was great as I could use up one skein of fingering weight yarn for my little girl's skirt.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

We've been away on vacation. Before that I was really having fun participating in knit & crochet blog week. I thought I had enough time to pre-plan my posts for the last few days, but between celebrating birthday number one, getting last shots and packing for the trip I did not get round to doing it. Life happened. I am back now, still jetlagged, but rested.

Where have we been? We visited the Sin City, stuffed our faces with burgers, ribbs, chocolate cakes (yes, plural), pies and sundaes.

Then we went to see the Grand Canyon. Which was truly grand. My husband and I have once compiled a list of places we want to visit. Grand Canyon was not among those. But now crossing the Canyon south to north (or vice versa) rim is so on my bucket list.

I did take my knitting along, finished a baktus scarf and started some socks. I have a pile of finished knits that need blogging about.